Mission with a Vision: Buyer of Fitchburg church plans to help needy

A moving truck is parked in front of Immaculate Conception Church on Walnut Street.

FITCHBURG — The pews and altar are gone, the church bell is silent, but even as workers removed the pipe organ from Immaculate Conception Church last week, new owners worked on their vision of its future.

The old church at 59 Walnut St., built in 1886, was sold last month to the Colomba family from Reading, which hopes to use it for the public good.

Gaetano Colomba and his daughter, Vanessa, spent time earlier this month cleaning out the rectory of the church, which closed in June 2010 along with three other Roman Catholic churches in Fitchburg. The Diocese of Worcester wanted to save money and consolidate services in the city.

Mr. Colomba's mother, Rosaria Colomba of Reading, bought the church for $309,000. She used savings of her husband, Giuseppi Colomba, who died in May at age 78. Mr. Colomba had been a laborer and farmer in Sicily. He immigrated to the United States in 1970.

What the church will become is still developing, but Gaetano Colomba said the basic blueprint was drawn up by him many years ago.

"We're just trying to wrap our minds around everything and figure out the best way to approach this project," he said as he sat with Vanessa in what used to be the rectory kitchen.

The church and the rectory total more than 42,000 square feet on a 2.06-acre lot. The intent is to renovate that space and rent it out to various organizations and businesses.

Mr. Colomba's business blueprint, drawn up about 20 years ago, is called Mission With A Vision. It is based on biblical concepts. The idea is to invest money in income-producing properties and businesses and then use a portion of the income to help the needy. As more money comes in, more money will be used for charitable purposes.

The money would go directly to the needy, rather than being used to create a nonprofit organization to spend what is earned.

The key to the business is getting tenants in the church and rectory or renting out space for events, meetings or other needs. Mr. Colomba said he expects to pay taxes, but will initially ask for an abatement until the business is up and running. Mr. Colomba and other like-minded people who he hopes will join his effort would identify recipients of the donations.

Mr. Colomba has the physical skills to do the project. He has worked over the years in many aspects of construction and once renovated a former factory into what was basically a business incubator. He has already gone through the two church buildings, shutting down unnecessary systems to save on heat and electricity until renovations are done and businesses move in.

Ms. Colomba will work with the administration of the Immaculate Conception project, but her long-term goals are to develop her own nonprofit to work internationally to provide psychological services in post-conflict societies. She has been to Rwanda twice to do charitable work.

"I'm very passionate about that," she said.

Ms. Colomba said that although she is more spiritual than religious, she loves the beauty and aesthetics of the old church.

"I see a lot of potential there," she said. "You never really know."

Ms. Colomba said she and her father are talking with people about the needs of the community.

"We need to know what the needs are and how we can utilize the space to the best of its potential," she said. "We want to preserve the beauty of the church and uphold what it was in the community."

Ms. Colomba said the family has already been contacted by Patricia Garland Stewart of the North Country Sustainability Center, which is interested in renting space in the church to hold programs and to operate a shared commercial kitchen for farmers and others looking to make food products for sale.

Ms. Stewart said she initially looked into buying the church for the center, but was not able to raise the money in time. She said renting would also work well for her. She said there is already a kitchen in the church, which would need to be re-licensed.

She said many small businesses cannot afford to operate a commercial kitchen on their own and meet all the Board of Health requirements in their communities. She said the shared kitchen would allow them to get their start and eventually move to a large facility if they are successful.

While she makes plans for renting in the Fitchburg property, Ms. Stewart said she is also looking at a property in Gardner to develop a place for farmers to sell their products.

Ms. Stewart said she does not have a specific timeline for moving into the Immaculate Conception Church, but she will meet with Piera Fico, Mr. Colomba's sister, to talk about the next steps in getting the project up and running.

On Wednesday, while Mr. Colomba and his daughter were cleaning out the rectory, a moving truck was at the church next door, backed up to a front door. Richard Frary, vice president of Czelusniak Et Dugal, a Northampton company that repairs, builds and maintains organs, said workers were there to move the church's pipe organ.

"We're taking it up to St. Joseph's Church with the idea that it will be installed eventually," he said. "They don't have a pipe organ."

After it was closed, the Immaculate Conception Church parish was combined with St. Joseph's Church, which is in the Cleghorn section of the city.

The church was already pretty well emptied by Wednesday. The pews were gone, as was the altar. The large stained glass windows on the sides of the church will remain with the church.

Raymond Delisle, communications director for the diocese, said the pews have been installed in another church.

Mr. Delisle said the church looks to get the best price it can when selling its properties.

"We're trying to get a good price. We're doing it for the parish that has responsibility for the property," he said.

Mr. Delisle said a slow real estate market and the more challenging neighborhoods some churches are in keep prices down. He said the church is also looking for people who want to put the buildings to another use, possibly but not necessarily religious.

"We have been trying to find other churches or community-oriented purposes for the buildings," he said.

Some of the churches that have been closed in recent years are not being sold, used instead for special events and or for a limited number of services.

The cost of keeping the buildings also plays in to how willing the diocese is to make a sale.

"Clearly it is a big challenge and these properties cannot simply be abandoned until sold," he said. "They need to be secured, insured, and sometimes the utilities are there."

If possible, items from the churches are put to other uses. Mr. Delisle said that when St. Mary's Church in Spencer needed to be torn down, the stained glass windows were taken out and installed in a church in New Orleans being rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.

Contact George Barnes at george.barnes@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgebarnesTG